Jack Lemmon…who is that?  You might say. Jack Lemmon is perhaps one of the most underrated actors to ever grace the silver screen. He worked with some of the greats such as Billy Wilder, Neil Simon, David Mamet, Oliver Stone, and even John Ford (to name a few). He was awarded with numerous accolades in his 50+ year career including 2 Academy Awards (8 nominations), 2 Emmy Awards (6 nominations), 6 Golden Globes (21 nominations), 2 SAG Awards (3 nominations), 1 Grammy nomination, 2 Tony Award nominations for Tribute and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and the AFI lifetime achievement award. He was a versatile performer who could be dramatic, funny, sing, dance, and grab the attention of every viewer who saw him perform. Lemmon passed in 2001 at the age of 76 and he would have turned 100 in February of this year. Now, after praising the achievements of Jack Lemmon; let’s celebrate the 10 performances that are forever engrained in our minds.

#1. Some Like It Hot (United Artists)

This may be Jack Lemmon’s best known role, this is the first of 7 collaborations between Lemmon and Billy Wilder. Lemmon plays Jerry, a jazz bassist who along with his friend Joe (Tony Curtis) witness the murder of a gang á la Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre; escape, dress in drag, assume new identities, and join an all girl jazz band headed by Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe). Jerry and Joe both are enamored with Sugar, hijinks ensue, a millionaire is trying to woo Jerry in drag (unaware that he is a man and not a woman) and two rival gangs start a fight. It’s one of Wilder’s best and Lemmon’s best; a comedy that never fails to bring laughs.

#2. The Apartment (United Artists)

This is the second collaboration between Lemmon and Wilder and the first of two between Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Lemmon plays Bud C. C. Baxter, an officer worker who lends his apartment for executives to use for their extra-marital affairs. He is also in love with Fran Kubelik (Shirley Maclaine), an elevator operator at his office building. When Bud discovers that one of the executives using his apartment for their affairs is courting Fran, compications ensue. It’s a romantic comedy tinged with drama. Lemmon wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t give a single false note.

#3. Glengarry Glen Ross (New Line Cinema)

Nearly 10 years after the smash play written by David Mamet, James Foley brought this acerbic adaptation to the silver screen in 1992. Jack Lemmon plays a down on his luck salesman named Shelley “The Machine” Levene, who works for a company that grifts money from people by falsely claiming that they can invest money into a small fictional piece of land and gain interest from it. Desperate to win the Glengarry leads to get more financial help for his daughter, Levene becomes the patsy for a robbery that took place at his work and loses his job. Lemmon brings a sadness that has only been portrayed in Days of Wine and Roses, Missing, and Save the Tiger.

#4. Days of Wine and Roses (Warner Bros. Studios)

In his first collaboration with Blake Edwards (yes, that Blake Edwards, the husband of the illustrious Julie Andrews) and based of a televised play; Jack Lemmon plays San Francisco public relations executive Joe Clay. Joe meets a beautiful secretary named Kirsten Arnesen (played by the lovely Lee Remick), Kirsten is a teetolar (someone who refrains from drinking) and Joe slowly convinces her to social drink. Soon they marry, have a kid, and slowly make their descent into alcoholism. It is a sad tale about the monster that is alcoholism and the toll it takes on your life. It also contains a bittersweet theme called “The Days of Wine and Roses” written by Johnny Mercer and scored by Henry Mancini.

#5. Missing (Universal Pictures)

In his final Oscar nominated performance, Lemmon plays Edmund “Ed” Horman, a Christian conservative business man who travels to Chile to help his daughter-in-law Beth (Sissy Spacek) look for his son Charles; a journalist who went missing during a military coup. During the film Ed butts heads with Beth over their lifestyle choices and reasons on why Charles would go missing. Lemmon portrays a sadness and desperation of a loving father seeking his son. The film was directed by Costa-Gavras and is based on a true story.

#6. The Odd Couple (Paramount Pictures)

Before it was a TV show (and a reboot of said TV show), The Odd Couple was a Broadway smash that was adapted into a Gene Saks comedy starring two of cinema’s most notable duos…Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Lemmon plays Felix Ungar a prim and proper man who moves in with a mutual friend Oscar Madison (played by Matthau) a divorcée who is sloppy and careless. Soon the two argue over cleanliness and whatnot, but they eventually apologize and become even better friends. Lemmon plays Felix with an undercurrent of anger, sadness, and sarcasm.

#7. The China Syndrome (Columbia Pictures)

In this intense 70s thriller, Lemmon plays nuclear power plant supervisor Jack Godell. During the events of this film Godell, reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda), and cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) discover that the nuclear power plant has been leaking and it was covered up by the company. Godell becomes the target of may people trying to cover it up and his paranoia ends up ending his life. Lemmon plays that paranoia, sadness, and anger fantastically in is performance as Godell.

#8. Save the Tiger (Paramount Pictures)

In this virtually unknown film directed by Rocky and The Karate Kid director John G. Avildsen, Lemmon plays Harry Stoner, businessman who owns a struggling Los Angeles apparel company. Stoner resorts to arson to get insurance money to get the company back on its feet, which comes to no avail due to the safety regulations. Stoner decides to abandon his accomplices and take it upon himself, leaving his American dream to burn up in flames. Lemmon won his second Oscar for portraying Harry Stoner; a win that is virtually forgotten due to time.

#9. Bell, Book and Candle (Columbia Pictures)

Before Bewitched, there was Bell, Book and Candle, a fantasy romantic comedy starring James Stewart and Kim Novak (the same year they both starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo). James Stewart plays a publisher named Shep and Kim Novak plays an art store owner…and a witch named Gillian. Jack Lemmon plays Nicky, Gillian’s warlock bongo-drum playing brother. Lemmon absolutely steals every scene he’s in without overshadowing the great Kim Novak and James Stewart.

#10. Grumpy Old Men (Warner Bros. Studios)

In one of his many collaborations with Walter Matthau, Lemmon plays an elderly man named John Gustafson Jr. and Matthau plays Max Goldman, his neighbor. They spend their time feuding, ice fishing and playing horrible pranks on each other…this escalates when a beautiful older woman named Ariel (played by the ever stunning Ann-Margret) moves across the street; which causes both of the men to fall madly in love with her. Soon their feud becomes complicated when Melanie (Daryl Hannah), John’s daughter falls in love with Jacob (Kevin Pollack) Max’s son. Lemmon brings his signature wit, charm, and acting prowess to this delightfully funny film.